


Time to Think

by Paint_It_Yellow



Series: Life Goes On (Post GX Canon) [6]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Gen, Nonbinary Character, Post-Canon, Time Travel, and because it's y'know post canon, it's there more because it could be if you wanted it to be, there's no ships really but you could read some lines as soulshipping if you wanted to, they/them pronouns, this is in the life goes on series tag but is not necessarily canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:29:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paint_It_Yellow/pseuds/Paint_It_Yellow
Summary: Being Judai has its ups and downs and being forced to investigate supernatural phenomena by your friends because you just so happen to be connected to a card spirit and practically carry around a ghost is not one of them. Especially when these forced investigations mean you get sent back through time.
Series: Life Goes On (Post GX Canon) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1200361
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Time to Think

Let it be known that Judai isn’t a fan of volunteer work. Especially when said volunteer work includes saving the world from its impending demise at the hands of some spirit that just hasn’t seemed to learn by the various failed attempts others have made. Not to mention that this volunteer work was only recognised by, like, ten people- not that he wanted the attention, but with nights getting colder it might be nice to get some gifts. Specifically of money.

“Focus, Judai,” Yubel reprimanded, not bothering to show themself.

“Yeah, yeah,” Judai replied, trying and failing to suppress a sigh. “We’ve been here for quite some time though and not even found a trace despite there being four of us.”

“‘Patience is a virtue’, that’s what they say, right? If we don’t find any signs after two days we can leave, but we need to be thorough.”

Patience may, indeed, be a virtue. It was just unfortunate that it was a virtue that Judai didn’t have a lot of; much less so when he was running on little money, little sleep and little food.

“It was Saiou that mentioned we should investigate this area, right?” he broke the silence after a while, continuing to aimlessly wander.

“I believe he said his sister had a premonition or something, yes.”

“I am so getting him to pay me for this. So much.”

Yubel didn’t say anything in response but he could practically hear the groan- actually, maybe it would be more accurate to say he felt the groan? Ah, well. Semantics.

The premonition itself, he recalled, had been pretty vague. He’d been told something would happen in a certain town and that he’d know he’d dealt with it when he had. Well, they’d been there almost two weeks and hadn’t found anything so so much for that. Not that he didn’t appreciate Saiou, it was more that almost all of his tasks took a long time and almost always included card spirits. Mostly benevolent ones that had gotten themselves lost, but there were still too many malevolent ones for his liking. His liking would be zero, just to be perfectly clear.

It wasn’t until he heard a distinct, familiar meow that he managed to snap himself out of his thoughts, Yubel seemingly just ignoring him and leaving him to it at this stage. Looking down at the ground he, rather unsurprisingly, found Pharaoh, meowing and clawing at his trouser leg. Lifting him up, Judai found that neither of those things stopped.

“Yubel, do you speak cat by any chance?” he asked, a bit unnerved as Pharaoh sunk his claws into Judai’s arms, urgently meowing.

“I thought we’d already covered that no, I do not- why?” Yubel replied, semi-materialising by his side to take a look.

Just for a moment, Pharaoh fell quiet to take his own good look at Yubel before starting up once more, looking rather obviously towards one of the nearby streets.

“He must have found something,” Yubel said, looking at the cat as he seemed to calm down now that he had been finally acknowledged even if by his not-so-favourite person.

“Can’t have been too relevant if even you couldn’t find it,” Judai pointed out. Considering Yubel being a card spirit it was true that they were much more sensitive to the supernatural and otherwise fantastical, after all.

“Maybe whatever we’re trying to find moves or is otherwise trying to avoid us,” Yubel pointed out. “Maybe we managed to miss going over it. I can only stray so far from your location after all.”

“Well… I guess you’re right,” Judai gave in with a sigh. “Let’s go check it out then.”

Making sure his bag was hefted over his shoulder properly, Judai set off for the street he and Yubel had assumed Pharaoh had sensed something out of the ordinary. The street itself was quite normal, they found. Was that a surprise? Judai couldn’t really say whether he’d been expecting something else and, if he just so happened to be, what that ‘something’ was. It wasn’t like bodies had been reported showing up, after all. The houses that lined each side of him had a warming glow as they added just that bit more of light to the early evening. It was so distracting that Judai almost didn’t sense the sudden surge of energy that made him stop dead in his tracks.

“That doesn’t feel like a card spirit,” Judai eventually said, swallowing the dryness in his mouth.

“But it definitely is familiar,” Yubel replied, punctuating themself with a moment of thoughtful silence. “I don’t think it’s malevolent at least.”

“How do we get rid of it if it’s not a card spirit? I doubt it’s a person so that just makes it harder to communicate.”

“By force, supposedly.”

“I thought you were supposed to be the smart one; we can’t use force on something that can’t materialise.” Judai could feel the eyeroll but paid it no mind.

“It’s always good to try our options at hand.”

“Well, I guess…”

Stopping dead in the middle of the street, Judai glanced at the houses. Most seemed to have their curtains drawn, thankfully. It always was a bit uncomfortable to use his powers out in public places but he didn’t have a choice here so he’d make do with what he had.

As soon as he let out even a fraction of his power, however, he could feel it instantly. A foreboding shiver down his spine that then amplified and reverberated throughout the rest of his body like he’d suddenly slammed into a wall before he let it guide him to wherever it had hit its roadblock. Yubel said nothing, or maybe they did and Judai had just tuned them out, a feat much easier when your ears were ringing, apparently.

“I think it’s here,” he muttered as he came to a stop randomly, reaching out his hand and sticking it vertically flat in midair. There were no obvious landmarks, just the street as it had been and some houses down by.

It was as soon as he acknowledged its presence that it made effort to move, though not away from Judai as Yubel had earlier offered it might be trying to. Snapping out of his daze, Judai listened to his instincts and jumped back just before whatever it was slammed into him, though even without sentience (or maybe it was sentient, he didn’t know) it seemed a bit ticked off. As soon as he moved the force was back, trapping him in what felt like a whirlwind.

“What’s going on?” Judai asked, hoping that someone would know the answer. Yubel. Pharaoh, even.

“I know as much as you do,” Yubel replied, trying to keep their voice calm as though Judai couldn’t feel the nervousness rolling off them. “It still doesn’t feel malevolent but-”

“Yeah well, we’re currently trapped in some weird supernatural whirlwind I’d put that down as somewhat malevolent!”

As soon as he finished speaking and before Yubel could reprimand him for cutting them off, he felt the force close in. A little bit, then a lot, then all at once.

The last thing he remembered was a loud ringing in his ears and a yell.

* * *

“Judai, get up! Come on!”

“Five more minutes…”

“You’re not in bed! Get up!” The voice sounded alarmed.

“Yubel?” Judai asked blearily as he sat up, rubbing a sore head while attempting to blink away his fatigue. “Where are we? What happened?”

Then it came back to him. Right. The weird thing Saiou wanted them to uncover had attacked them. Without ill intent according to Yubel but then again, maybe it was just good at hiding it considering it may not be sentient.

“I have an idea what happened, but I’m not completely sure. As for where we are… take a look for yourself,” the last part was said somewhat drily and it didn’t take long for him to find out why.

There he sat on a grassy cliff overlooking the ocean. What he felt first was short-lived nostalgia replaced by fear replaced by confusion.

“Academia Island?” he questioned, mostly to himself. “So it was a supernatural teleporter? Why here?”

He saw a flash of black and purple out the corner of his eye as Yubel semi-materialised only for them to shrug.

“Gee, helpful,” Judai muttered.

“Only for you,” they replied, clearly meaning it in both ways before adding much more seriously, “Be careful.”

“I’ll try my best but you know how trouble is.”

Yubel sighed but nodded their consent to the sentiment while Judai got up and brushed himself off, wondering what his next move should be; there was no doubt that getting to the mainland was on the top of their priorities list but incidents like this didn’t just tend to happen for no reason, Judai felt. Heading towards the forest, Judai couldn’t help but sigh. Maybe if he phoned Saiou he could bank in on that money he was wanting in favour of a helicopter out?

Judai kept walking for a bit before he realised Yubel had lagged behind, glancing around both protectively and warily.

“What’s wrong? I doubt anyone from Duel Academia’s going to attack me considering it’s the middle of the school year. The only ones who might not know who I am are the first years and they’ll be in class right now or are otherwise not a threat.”

“I’m not worried about someone attacking you,” Yubel replied. “I’m worried about my hypothesis being correct.”

“Right. Your hypothesis. Which you didn’t tell me.”

“It’s-” they cut themself off. “Hide. Now.”

With the suddenness of it all, Judai moved before his brain caught up as he took a leap into a nearby bush. It wasn’t until he saw a familiar cat run by that he felt something slot into place, if only very vaguely.

“Pharaoh, but I thought Pharaoh was with us- I must’ve dropped him when we went through whatever kind of portal that was!” He stood up, about to go and catch Pharaoh before he felt Yubel’s ghostly hand phase through his shoulder- a sign telling him to stay still.

“Pharaoh’s there,” Yubel pointed to where said cat was marching over to them with a yawn while the other Pharaoh was still in their sights as it ran.

“But that- Unless…”

“You’re catching on.”

Judai frowned. He didn’t like this, not one bit. Not even a tiny modicum. It couldn’t get worse, were thoughts he didn’t dare have, because it got worse before he could even think it.

“Pharaoh!” came a familiar yet foreign voice, sounding out of breath as it slowed. “Pharaoh!” it repeated.

Yubel watched as a figure came into view.

“Is that... me?” Judai whispered, both hesitant and in awe all at once. Yubel could only nod as she watched the younger Judai approach their hiding spot.

“Looks like it.”

“I look so… young.”

“That’s because you were,” Yubel replied softly, “because you are.”

“Really? Don’t feel it,” Judai held in a mirthful chuckle, conscious about being found despite everything.

“You’re young, too young. That’s why you feel so burdened and burned out by all that happened. Come on, let’s take your mind off things. Wouldn’t you like to know what’s going on?”

Judai nodded, swallowing, before lifting Pharaoh into his arms, unwilling to let him go missing or get mixed up with the other Pharaoh. Besides, if Pharaoh went missing then the Professor went missing as well.

As soon as the younger Judai seemed well and truly gone, the older Judai clambered out of the bush, though decided against following the laid track in case someone happened to be walking on it and spotted him. Instead, he found himself wandering through the forest, ultimately familiar with its layout considering the fact that forests don’t change much within just a few years.

“Where should we go?” Judai asked suddenly as they were steadily making their way towards the main campus, trying to avoid anyone they may know.

“I don’t know anyone here,” Yubel reminded him, “I’ll trust in your decision.”

“I suppose… the Professor might know what to do, but we already have him with us, it’s just a matter of when he decides to show up. And Misawa’s probably nowhere close to his apprenticeship so I don’t think he’d be able to help us. It’d be great if I knew what year it was directly.”

“How about instead of thinking about how we’re going to get out, we think about the basics. Where will we stay during our time and what will you and Pharaoh eat? I don’t know how long you could stay hidden on the island, though I’ve only seen a portion of it myself.”

“We could hideout in the cargo area,” Judai realised. “That’s food and shelter covered.”

Yubel’s nose wrinkled. “Are you sure? It’s you that has to live in these conditions, you know.”

“Exactly, so you don’t worry too much about it, everything will be the same for you.”

“I’ll worry too much about it.”

“I know.”

“We have no other option.”

“I’m sure there is another option. You could always speak to the principal, right?”

“You and I both know that letting people know we’re here is dangerous.”

Yubel sighed and scratched the back of their neck. It wasn’t like they wanted to put Judai in danger but they couldn’t think what option would be best to ensure his safety.

“If this really is the past then nothing too bad could have happened. I remember chasing Pharaoh tons down that path and never in the events before, during or prior did anything bad happen, plus if it isn’t the past then there’s no danger in anything.”

“Well… alright. I said I’d trust your decision, so I’ll do that. Cargo hold, right?”

Judai smiled. “Right.” And then they set off.

* * *

  
Sitting behind a stack of crates like he had been for the last few days, Judai found himself ultimately bored and frustrated.

“You’re sure you know nothing about how to get back?” he asked Daitokuji, out only now while Pharaoh seemed to be asleep.

“I already would have told you if I did. Time travel’s just not in my range of expertise.”

“But immortality is?” Judai asked, skeptical.

“Two very different things.”

Judai gave him an odd look before deciding to drop it. It wasn’t like this was the first time he’d asked anyway.

“What about you, Yubel? You’ve done this before?” After all, they’d worked with portals before. Surely there was something they’d retained.

There was a bout of silence before they responded, sounding somewhat uncomfortable at first.

“Dimension hopping is different from time travel, I’d say. Crossing to a different dimension means that your presence leaves your own, causing a disturbance in where all the residual energy should have gone. I don’t know much about time travel but I’d hypothesise that it would work differently depending on whether you go backwards or forwards. Going backwards means we were always meant to be here at this time and place. All of our actions are predetermined.”

Judai sat for a moment and stared at their partner blankly all while they stared back, awaiting a response.

“What?” Judai eventually responded.

“What do you mean ‘what’?”

“Could you explain what you mean in an easier to understand way? They didn’t exactly teach this at the Academia.”

Yubel and Daitokuji exchanged a glance but didn’t broach on the education of the academy.

“Basically, crossing dimensions shouldn’t happen as the energy used leaves a dent while time travelling backwards, theoretically, shouldn’t. That doesn’t mean we can be lazy about how we carry ourselves, of course. Not if we want to get back to our time.”

“Right, okay. I think I have it. You’re smarter than I give you credit for, you know that?”

“That’s a very backhanded compliment to be giving your partner.”

“You know what I meant though, right?”

Yubel smiled. “Of course I do. Back on point though, we already have some sort of base for all of this.”

Judai thought for a moment. They did? Oh! Yeah, no, they totally did. “You mean the duel with Yugi?”

“Exactly that. I don’t think that was standard time travel- more of a time slip that placed us into an isolated bubble- but it’s as good a start as any. Think of how we arrived back, any detail could be crucial.”

“The duel ended? Uh… I don’t know. We were duelling, then the duel ended and I was back where I was before.”

“Was there anything weird that happened before the duel ended or just after?”

“As the duel started to end my body began to feel a bit lighter, I think? Then I got a bit lightheaded.”

“Well, it’s a place to start. Maybe we should go over the duel in more detail.”

And that’s what they did for the next few hours, endlessly going over and over the one duel, putting pins in anything and everything from what was ordinary to out of it and not excluding Judai’s ever-changing emotional state throughout.

It was nearing the evening when their discussion was brought to an abrupt close by some new voices entering the fray.

“You say only supplies from this unit have been affected?”

“Yessir. Mainly the food. Enough to feed just a bit more than two people.”

“I see.”

Holding back a curse, Judai looked around for any sign of escape only to find that storage units didn’t tend to be very open to that sort of thing and that, in an attempt to stay hidden, he’d chosen to set up camp in the furthest corner too. He looked at Yubel for help but they were too focused on listening to the voices, hoping they’d fade or fall behind a stack of crates that would allow for them to momentarily move unseen. Unfortunately, not everything goes as planned.

Pharaoh was, ultimately, the one who took the initiative and darted out from their hiding spot, running not from the voices but straight to them. Judai put a foot forward instinctively, about to run after him while his mouth hung open in a silent shout but he stopped himself as he thought better. His second thoughts, however, didn’t seem of much help as even just the thud of a single foot seemed to be enough to drag the attention of those in the unit. Well, he decided, might as well go full in then, and he chased after Pharaoh, cursing the cat as he went.

“Pharaoh?” one of the voices, ever familiar, questioned. Damn cat had went straight to them.

Judai went to halt to hide behind some crates but before he could he knew he’d been spotted.

“Unauthorised personnel are not permitted in this area,” she said as she stared down Judai, who just looked at her with wide eyes.

“Uh,” he replied intelligently.

“Saved it,” Yubel muttered.

“Give me a break,” Judai hissed under his breath.

“Yuki Judai?” the familiar voice from earlier spoke up, rounding a corner with Pharaoh in tow. “What are you doing here?”

“P-Principal?” he stuttered. Ah, that would be why the voice sounded familiar. He had to admit, it was rather weird to hear his full name spoken like that after all this time. “I- uh- that is-” He looked at Pharaoh. “Professor Daitokuji wanted me to find Pharaoh after he went missing.”

“I see,” Samejima hummed. Did he buy it? Even Judai would admit that his acting skills left much to be desired. “It seems that you’ve done just that, but you know that you shouldn’t be here, correct?”

Judai nodded dumbly.

“Then since you’re done here, why don’t you go and give Pharaoh back, hm?”

“Yup, sure, right away,” Judai replied hurriedly, picking the cat up in a manner he less than appreciated if the meows of protest were anything to go by.

Before he could actually get out, however, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he felt his nerves only increase. “I can’t let this go unnoticed, you understand. See me in my office.”

Judai, again, nodded and finally headed off into the outside world now sure that he was well and truly fucked.

“That could not have gone any worse,” he muttered, making his way to the main building, being even more alert to his surroundings than he had earlier.

“It could have,” Daitokuji pointed out, “think of this as a lesser of two possible evils.”

“Still an evil. God, I wish I was done with evil. I’m thinking that once I get back to our time I just settle down and get a job as like. I don’t know, what’s a regular job? A cashier? I’ll do that.”

“As funny as that would be to see, not our most pressing matter. Why are you heading towards his office anyway? You don’t have to do what he says.”

“I think he already suspects something and if he doesn’t I don’t want him calling out past me. That would possibly create a whole other set of problems.”

Yubel hummed in mild satisfaction to the answer. “So what do you think you’re going to tell him? That you’re one of his students from the future?”

Judai shrugged. “If that’s what it comes to. The Principal’s not the sort to go telling others things anyway, he certainly doesn’t tell his students much that’s for sure.”

The office was just as Judai always remembered it, almost remarkable in how unremarkable that realisation came to him. Though, he supposed upon further thought, there wasn’t really much reason for the office to change considering all it was used for. Not much time for it either, he added snidely.

He glanced around, wondering if there was a chair he could take a seat in (not that there usually was, he was just getting his hopes up) while he waited but it turns out he didn’t really need to wait for long as just a short while from Judai’s arrival, the Principal also made his appearance, sinking into his desk chair before he leaned forward to lean on the table.

“Yuki Judai,” he stated. It didn’t sound like it, but Judai could hear the question in it.

“That’s me, yes.”

“Is that so? You look much more different than when I last saw you.”

Was he really playing this route? Listen, he liked the Principal at the best of times. Really let him off with things that maybe, in retrospect, he shouldn’t have gotten away with. But this was going to drag and they both knew there was no point delaying it.

“I think we should speed things up here.”

Samejima sighed, though the corner of his lips quirked up ever so slightly. “Right. I suppose firstly it would be nice to know your circumstances.”

“Your average time travel shenanigans,” Judai replied with a hand wave as though time travel itself really as average shenanigans to most people.

“I see, I see,” the Principal took it in stride. “Why?”

“We’re not sure. We’ve spent the past few days trying to figure it out but there’s only so much one can do when holed up in a storage unit.”

“‘We’? Are there others with you?”

“Ah,” Judai nearly panicked before calming down, if only for the moment, “me and Pharaoh that is.”

“That begs a further question: why is Pharaoh with you and not Professor Daitokuji?”

“Circumstances.” There was really no good way around that one.

Samejima raised his brow but didn’t push further. “How are you planning on getting back to your time then? That seems the logical jump to take when displaced so suddenly.”

“Again, I don’t fully understand why I’m here so it’s harder to figure out a way to get back.”

Samejima paused. “If you’re here for a reason, maybe I could tell you a possibility.”

Now that certainly perked Judai’s interest. He’d never known much about the Principal other than he just kind of seemed to roll with things that were otherwise unbelievable until they happened. Had he a hand in summoning them there?

While Judai was thinking, Samejima had opened his desk drawer to pull out a box that Judai couldn’t help but find vaguely familiar.

“You probably won’t know what it is that’s inside here-”

“The seven keys,” Judai found himself blurting out before he could think to stop himself. Oh well, it wasn’t like it had done any danger this time around.

“Yes,” Samejima replied, sounding about as surprised as he looked, it wasn’t exactly common knowledge that the keys existed after all, “how did you know?”

“Good times,” Judai answered and he honestly couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, though they certainly were better times that’s for sure.

Samejima shifted then sighed. “I suppose this will coincide with my question. If you’re from our future timeline, you may know who I should give these to in order to ensure their safety.”

“Are- are you asking me to choose? You do know who I am, right?”

“I know current you but that’s not got much to do with this, and yes, I am asking you to choose. Unless you don’t know.”

Gritting his teeth, Judai found himself looking at the box. Of course, it was true when he said that this event was part of the better of his high school career but could he find it morally correct to choose who he knew got them? A majority of whom were children who didn’t exactly get the best of treatment because of the keys? But it worked out, he knew that. None of them had lasting PTSD regarding the situation, hell, they probably never really processed it until it was but a distant memory. He’d almost forgotten it had happened himself.

Looking back, it was incredibly irresponsible of Samejima to give such responsibility to children, no matter if it did work out in the end. Especially considering that most of those who received the keys were first years. Now, standing in his old Principal’s office, being given the choice to change the fate of his friends, he honestly found it harder than he wished. It should be a snap decision. A quick ‘don’t give it to children because they’re children and that’s all the reasoning you should need’. But he couldn’t say it. Was that selfish of him?

“Judai,” Yubel said, voice soft and quiet even though they could be as loud as they wanted. “Don’t think about it too much. Don’t blame yourself for what you know has to happen. They’ll all come out fine and you know that.”

Well, technically one wouldn’t considering he was now a ghost stuck currently stuck inside his cat’s stomach until further notice.

Ultimately, though, Yubel was right. He hated it, though. No matter what choice he made he felt like it was the wrong one. One would put innocent people in danger who may not be able to stop what Kagemaru was planning, another would put not just children, but his friends in danger. Danger that he knew in detail.

“You’ve been quiet for quite a while, Judai. I did say you could say you didn’t know.”

Judai sucked in a breath, hardening his gaze. “I do know, but saying it doesn’t make it any easier to remember what happened.”

“Did something terrible happen?”

Judai ignored him. “I know who should have the keys or at least who had the keys when I was fifteen. I just want to ask something first.”

“That seems fair.” Samejima punctuated with a nod.

“Are you alright with putting children in danger?” Something about the notion did seem to shock Samejima, eyes widening just a fraction, though he didn’t say anything and just allowed Judai to continue. “Not young children, sure, but children. Who you, as an adult and teacher, are supposed to protect and guide? Are you alright with that?”

There was silence from Samejima as Judai stared him down, but he did ultimately have to speak.

“I am not. But if it’s what’s best, then it’s something I’ll allow. Even so, I’ll take your words into careful consideration. More so than I may otherwise.”

Judai clenched then unclenched his fist. “Alright. The ones to receive the keys should be: me, Manjoume, Asuka, Ryou, Misawa, Professor Chronos and Professor Daitokuji.”

Nothing would go wrong, he knew, but as soon as the words came from his mouth he regretted them.

“I see,” Samejima said. “I see why you weren’t up to telling me- they’re people important to you, yes?”

Judai nodded.

“Then let’s make sure that you return to them as well.” Samejima offered a smile. “Let’s not forget, you’re from the future. I will look out for them and yourself here in the past so you can look forward to seeing them in the future. That’s how these things go.”

“What things?” Judai asked, confused.

“My job. You were the one that pointed it out, after all. I should protect my students while I still have the chance and make sure they’re able to grow up nurtured so they can leave safely.”

Well, that was ironic considering the next two years, but that wasn’t under Samejima’s jurisdiction and he didn’t want to say any more than he had to.

“I see.”

“And while I’m sure you no longer see yourself as my student, you’ll always be a student of Duel Academia. Come back after you get to your time, I’m sure we’ll have a lot to catch up about if my assumptions are correct.”

“What are you-?” He was cut off by an annoyingly knowing smile, a yell of his name and the familiar feeling of being forcefully shoved to the ground.

When he next opened his eyes, he found himself on the ground in that same street with Pharaoh scrambling to get out of his now slack grip while he tried to process what just happened.

“Judai!” Two very panicked voices came from above him, who he very easily found to be the Professor and Yubel, staring down at him.

“Are you alright?” Daitokuji asked with a frown while Judai heaved himself back up from the ground, blinking.

“I- yeah…” he said slowly. “How did we get back here?”

“The same way, I think,” Yubel offered. “The rift randomly opened up and brought you back here.”

For what reason? Had he just so happened to have done what the rift wanted? Did it specifically want him to talk to Samejima for whatever reason? He frowned then remembered something.

“The Principal looked like he knew something about the situation, just before we got sucked back, don’t you think?”

Yubel frowned. “I didn’t notice honestly. I think by that time I’d already went to yell out to you.”

“Well, we’ve completed our mission here, I’d say. Right?”

Yubel didn’t object. “I’d say we’ve more than done that. Why, have you got an idea where you want to go next?”

Oh, he had more than an idea. 

**Author's Note:**

> Are time travel fics in vogue still or were they never cause they're really fun. Originally I was going to try a time travel fic where Judai goes back to be his younger self (as in, in his body and all that jazz) and then I decided that was too much work and I hadn't the idea for it then I thought maybe I'd do a time travel fic where Judai goes and meets his past self and they both learn something from each other but then it's like that messes with both timelines so. This is here instead. 
> 
> If some parts feel a bit wonky it's probably because they were written hours apart from each other oops though I did leave some parts wonky (a different kind of wonky) deliberately. I hope I got what I was trying to convey across though. Man. These kids really didn't get the chance to have a proper adult-figure in their high school careers though, huh? I mean I love Chronos, bless his wee heart but he's not 'proper adult-figure material' if you catch my drift. 
> 
> I rambled a bit, sorry. Also last time I gave a book rec and this time I'm giving two! Go read When All is Said and Forest of Wool and Steel, both 1000% recommended by me. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at [future-circuit!](http://future-circuit.tumblr.com/)


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